Here comes the Cleanse!

I am excited to begin another month of Clean eating. It is a joy to shop for fresh vegetables and salmon. It is pleasurable to eat things that are not only delicious but nutritious. I am ready for kale and fresh juice and quinoa. These things have all become constant items in our fridge, but they rest beside stacks of cheese, sausuage, and chocolate pudding cups.

We are going to officially begin on Januray 2, although I plan to stop eating sugar & things this week. We have so much stuff in the cabinets & fridge that are not part of the Cleanse... it does seem wasteful just to throw it away when it won't hurt to have another ham sandwich for lunch tomorrow.

cinnamon rolls

I think these were the best cinnamon rolls I have ever baked. The dough was perfect the filling was perfect and then they baked perfectly, too. Even days later they were delicious. Without frosting, butter or decoration they were amazing. It is a plain & simple recipe that I have made dozens of times.

That is the mystery/delight/frustration of baking.

Roast Everything.

Crimini Mushrooms.

Soup: Carrots, Onion, Lemon, Garlic, Apple.

Lemon, Garlic, Onion. Always needed.

Fried Eggplant with Sea Salt & Honey

I ate this at Poppy in Seattle [Capitol Hill] and have never made it as home quite as delicious as it was that lovely night. The eggplant needs to be soaked in water so that it doesn't absorb the oil when you fry it. The size needs to be just right. You need to eat them when they are hot. They can be dusted with flour or chickpea flour before frying. Fried eggplant is pillow-soft. Salt & Honey is magic.

I made butter, is it better?

Constance, Cat & I took a cheese-making class. What I learned is that if you are going to spend the time making one dairy-based product, you may as well plan to make at least five dairy-based products because one thing will lead naturally to the next. So you get some probiotic cultures and add them to cream and let your kitchen's bacteria go to town in the jar. Pretty soon you have some cultured cream, which you could use like a sour cream/yogurt/creamy spread. But if you put a lid on that jar and shake it up [for a long time], or put the cream in your food processor [much easier], the fat will separate and you get cultured butter. What separates from the butter is... butttermilk!